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Derek Carr threw for 371 yards and five touchdowns to lead Fresno State over Idaho 48-24 on Saturday in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Jalen Saunders was Carr's main target, hauling in five catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Rashad Evans added seven catches for 81 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs (2-2).
Brian Reader completed 22 of 38 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns for the Vandals (1-3).
Fresno State running back Robbie Rouse entered the game needing only 27 yards to eclipse the 2,000 mark for his career. He finished with 112, all but 45 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
Carr opened with a 16-yard TD pass to Jalen Saunders, keeping Fresno State's streak of scoring on every opening drive this season intact.
Idaho kept things close in the first half, tying the score at 7 when Reader hit Clayton Homme with a 3-yard pass late in the first quarter.
Fresno State's Kevin Goessling kicked a 48-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs up 10-7 at the end of the first.
Idaho briefly took a 14-10 lead when Princeton McCarty broke away with an 18-yard TD run early in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs quickly took control when Saunders snagged a 51-yard touchdown catch and Marcel Jensen ran in from the 1 with 1:59 left in the first half, giving Fresno State a 24-17 lead at the break.
The Bulldogs broke the game open in the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns, while Goessling added his second 48-yard field goal to enter the fourth quarter with a 41-17 lead.
The Vandals tried to get back in the game early in the fourth when Matthew Harvey ran for a 65-yard kickoff return and Kama Bailey closed it out with a one-handed touchdown catch from Reader to make it 41-24 with 14:34 left.
The Bulldogs closed with a 14-play drive that ended with Carr hitting Josh Harper with a 9-yard touchdown pass to put Fresno State up 48-24.
